THG Trilogy: Katniss and Gale
by thghcm
Summary: My continuation of THG Trilogy. I just started, so I'm not sure where the story is going yet, but please bare with me.
1. Chapter 1

**My first fanfic….Go easy on me please. Reviews would be highly appreciated. **

**This is my version of after mockingjay I guess. Peeta let go of Katniss go be with Gale. I don't exactly know Peeta's whereabouts yet, but expect it soon. ****J**

**Oh, and I'm not afraid of constructive criticism. So please tell me what I need to improve on. If you don't, who will? Reviews are love. I like love. ;) and lastly, TELL me if I have any grammar or typos. Thanks.**

Gale appears quietly behind me. I still don't know how he manages with the forest floor covered in crunchy leaves. Neither of us speaks as we walk further into the woods. Nothing to say I guess. I decide to break the silence as I'm retrieving my bows out of the hollow log.

"What should we do first?" I ask. As always, we can hunt, gather or fish at the pond.

"We could hunt first. I'm in the mood for rabbit." Gale says, grinning. I smile back. "Prim said she wanted a few strawberries for dessert, so spare some in the pile for the mayor." I say stretching my finger around my arrow. "Will do." Gale murmurs and walks further in. Gale seems a bit distant today. Not his usual self. I'm not in the mood to ask, so I just focus on the hunting.

I see a wild turkey up ahead by an oak tree. I step quietly, point my arrow, and manage a kill shot right in its head. Gale calls my name from the left. I grab the turkey, toss it in the game bag and head over. I follow his voice near the pond where I find our strawberry patch. Not only are the berries a bright juicy red, but they've seemed to multiply. I flip over the net, dip the berry in the pond, dry it on my shirt and take a bite of it. My mouth salivates as the sweetness floods my mouth. I close my eyes to better the taste. I feel Gale's teeth on my index finger for a quick second and my eyes shoot open. He chews the rest of the berry and gives a menacingly smirk.

"I wasn't done with that," I snap.

"Considering we have to save them, why not?" He takes out a small box for the berries and we begin picking the best ones for the mayor, and the moderate ones for Prim. We fish a little bit while were there. Game ends up plentiful. Gale finds a rabbit in one of his snares, I have the turkey, Gale caught a fish, and with the berries, it looks like we have a full meal tonight. The sun is just beginning to set over the trees. The shades of sunset orange, pink, purple and blue bleed together into night as we trail silently towards home. The woods remain peaceful as we left it. Noises become clearer when we approach town. I see Madge walking past us and tap her on the shoulder. Her long blond hair is pinned up in ringlets, and she wears her usual expensive clothes. She smiles at Gale and I.

"Hi, Katniss!" She greets.

"Hi Madge. Is it okay if I hand over the strawberries now?" I ask politely.

"No problem," She holds her hand out for them. I fumble around in the game bag for the box.

"Thanks," She says.

"I'll pay you double tomorrow then. I don't have any money with me."

"How do we know you're not lying?" Gale interrupts. She gives an honest smile and pats her pockets.

"I promise." She says.

"Gale," I nudge him.

"I should be on my way. Bye Katniss. Gale," She gives a less warm goodbye to Gale. He rolls his eyes and we continue our walk. Again, we don't speak until we get to his house. Dim orange light and the smell of spices wafts through the air. When we get inside and toss our shoes and things down, I go into the small kitchen where Hazelle and my mother are preparing for meat.

"Katniss shot a turkey." Gale says, sipping at a glass of water.

"Katniss, I don't know how you do it." Hazelle says.

"Thank you," She whispers. I can tell by the look in her eyes how thankful she is.

"Don't thank me. Thank the turkey." I joke. She smiles and turns back to cooking. I walk around the kitchen to the living room where Prim is watching the kids. I take a seat next to her.

"A turkey?" She asks.

"Yeah." I huff as I stretch my arms out.

"That's good. Now there's enough food for all of us." She smiles. I wrap my arms around Prim and we chat for a few minutes until Gale calls me back to the kitchen to start cooking. I quickly run over to the game bag where we have the spare berries. I give Prim her share of strawberries and help prepare dinner. The turkey is cooked nicely, but takes a long time to make. We eat the rabbit first, and some of the fish along with it. We eat most of the turkey and try to save as much as we can. Prim barely ate the strawberries. I think she wants to save them for everyone. Kind as always. We end up sharing among ourselves. By the time were all settled down and relaxing, were all satiated. I sit next to Gale on the floor and we watch a bit of television before we head down back home. The seal of Panem lights up the screen and President Ree appears on screen in front of a Panem flag. He speaks something about the districts getting more food supply in the next month or so. Shocking. I look at Gale who's busy focused on Ree's every word.

"Hmph." Gale mumbles.

"Better than nothing," I say.

"Yeah, I guess so." Gale stands up.

"Want to go outside?" He asks. I tear my eyes from the screen to look at him, and nod. We get up at the same time and make our way to the door, mumbling excuses to out mothers as we exit.

"I'm surprised. Maybe the mayors got together and revolted," I joke. He smiles. I lean against the trunk of an old birch tree.

"That's not really what I wanted to talk about." He says. He purses his lips the way he always does before he says something important. I give him a confused look. He closes his eyes, and drags his hand down his face.

"Can I stay over your house tonight?" He asks in a muted voice with his hand over his face.

"Why?" I try to decipher his face. He looks stressed.

"I'm so tired, Katniss. I haven't slept in weeks and, well…I feel much calmer when I'm around you. My mother's been really stressed and Posy has been really annoying. I mean, I love her but everything is coming at me in all directions and I can't handle it!" He calms down and tries to smile, but it doesn't quite make it.

"Um, sure. There's plenty of room." I welcome him, but I still can't help but feel there's something more I should do for him. He seems so off. Gale nods and turns back into the house. He holds the door for me and walks over to Hazelle and murmurs something in her ear. She nods unwillingly as Gale grabs his belongings.

"Alright Haze, I'm getting tired. I think we'll head home." Mother yawns out. Posy clings her small chubby fingers around Prim. She smiles as Prim hugs her tightly and gets up. Vick and Rory are busy playing with an old set of toys that had belonged to Gale awhile back.

"Don't worry about it. Do you mind if Gale stays over?" She asks. Mother gives her a look as to say "Don't even ask," and Hazelle smiles. Gale and I wave goodbye and head out the door. We wait for Prim and my mother to come out.

"Gale, you know you can stay whenever you need to," She assures. Gale nods and looks at me. Prim leads us home, excited I guess.

"I wonder what Buttercup is up to." She muses.

"Tearing up our house?" I mutter. She rolls her eyes. The Victor Villages' lamppost shines brightly, illuminating Haymitch's putrid house. He stays home most of the day, either drinking, drunk, or hung-over. Once in awhile when he's sober he'll walk up to our house and chat for a bit. Then he'll go back to the geese before he grabs another bottle of liquor. I hate to admit it, but Peeta was right when he said that Haymitch and I are alike. Peeta. I wonder what he's up to in District 8. Probably baking his life away. Why did he just let go? I shake my head clear of any thoughts of him. Even after Ree became president, Gale seems like he's back to normal and not his loving-me self. Maybe it's just the stress. Or maybe I just don't recognize love anymore. When I realize I'm standing by the stairs I snap back to reality. Gale is giving me a strange look. Mother and Prim are already inside paying attention to Buttercup.

"Are you okay?" He asks, concerned.

"I'm fine," I lie. I push all my thoughts aside and focus on Gale.

We head upstairs to my room and settle in. I toss Gale an extra blanket for the bed next to mine. He looks at the blanket on the bed for a minute, deep in thought. Then he shakes his head and spreads it out on the mattress. Moonlight streams into the room, visible even with the lamp on. When I turn to close the curtains, he stops me.

"Leave it. It looks too nice." He whispers.

"It does." I agree.

"I'm going to go put on some night clothes," I say, turning into the bathroom. I pull on a pair of pants and an old shirt from the drawer. As ugly and tattered as they are, they're probably the most comfy pajamas in the world. I brush the tangles out of my hair and loosely braid it over again. When I open the door, Gale's sitting on his bed. His similar attire makes me feel like I should dress more like a girl.

"Cute." He says. I laugh.

"Uh huh." I sit on the bed and unroll the covers. Part of me wants to jump in Gales arms knowing he loves me. Then there's the other part screaming _Don't do it!_ So I just pull the covers over me.

"Can I turn the lamp off?" I ask.

"Yeah." He answers. I switch the light off, which doesn't really make a difference compared to the moonlight.

"Night Katniss." He whispers.

"Night Gale," I whisper back.

**And I don't know why the fudge its taking out my quotemarks.. and mis spacing things...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Second chapter. Very shortbut worth it (in my opinion). So Gale and Katniss are growing back together again! Arent you happy for them? ;) I might lengthen this a bit over time, so bare with me please**

**As always, tell me if you notice any mistakes. And reviews are love. I. Like. Love. ****J**

My nightmares arent very welcoming tonight.

Boggs and Finnick greet me tonight. Pelts of furry clothing surround me. Tigris shop. Finnick comes bounding down the stairs smiling, and laughing. He jokes, with his humor that I dearly miss. His face turns white and the hair falls off his head. He smells like roses. He morphs into the mutt that killed him. Boggs is running away, until his legs are blown off. Flashes of Mitchell and Peeta run by me. When Im just about to try and make sense of the mess around me, Im standing in front of the mansion in the black goo. I stumble around to try to find someone. I trip and land in the substance, gasping, screaming for air. I can hear Prims moans and screams through the goo. Then I feel a flash of warmth against my back. Then I explode.

I jolt my body upright, and begin gasping. Gale is standing next to me, and wraps his arms around me.

I heard you screaming. He murmurs. He wraps his arms around me. I choke out something between a cry and a gasp and a sigh. I exhaled with relief to know that Prim is just a few doors down the hall. I try to manage a small laugh, but it turns into a cry.

Its all my fault, I whisper. All because of me. Poor Annie, I sob again. I didnt think Id hold out long anyway. I was bound to break down again.

Shh. Nothing was your fault. Gale says. He slides his feet in under the covers and I lay my head in the hollow of his neck and shoulder. It takes about ten minutes before I can compose myself. When I do, I sit up to face him.

Im sorry, I begin. I should have gone to the bathroom our out in the hall for that. I said rubbing my eyes.

What are you talking about, Katniss? Its not like you _knew _youd have terrible nightmares. He takes a lock of my hair and puts it behind my ear. The moonlight has mostly faded, but I can see his expression and the glint in his stormy grey eyes. Gale always looks younger in the dark. Like the boy I met in the woods. I remember that day so clearly. I know for a fact that if it werent for him, Id be dead by now. Our grey eyes lock with each other, fixated. His lips part open ever so slightly. My breathing is getting rugged. Leaning in slowly, he presses his lips to mine, soft and hesitant. He pulls away for a moment to read my face. All my worries have faded to the back of my mind. I try to fill up my brain with as much of Gale as possible. His fingers trace my face. He lingers on my lips for awhile

Kiss me, I mumble. He grins and his lips meet mine again, more forceful, willing and energetic all at the same time. I twine my fingers in his soft hair, tracing circles on his neck. His hands trace up and down my back, around my arms and back again. His lips trail down to my jaw line, my neck, my collarbone.

Catnip, He murmurs, lips at my neck.

Hm. I say. I bring his face back to mine so our foreheads are pressing against each other. I push him back so were lying down. I fall asleep with Gales arms around me.


End file.
